The life cycle of frogs
and toads involves at least one major transformation, from tadpole to
adult. Many also shed their skins regularly as they grow, and some species
eat the shed skin. These spectacular transformations may explain why
many cultures see frogs and toads as symbolic of re-creation, or as
keepers of the secrets of transformations.

The Olmec tribes created
images of a toad god of rebirth, eating its own skin. It is reborn by
consuming itself, caught in a cycle of death and rebirth, like people,
and like the natural world itself.

In many ancient Chinese tales
and legends, the toad is a trickster and a magician, a master of escapes
and spells. But he is also the keeper of the real, powerful secrets
of the world, such as the secret of immortality. Many legends involve
a wandering wise man called Liu Hai and his three-legged toad companion
Ch'an Chu. The toad knows the secret of eternal life, and for his friendship
reveals the secret to the wise man. In Japan a similar legend involves
the Gama-Sennin, also known as Kosensei, a wise old man with a hunched
body and a warty face. Kosensei wanders the land with his toad companion,
who teaches him the secret powers of herbs, including the secret of
immortality.

Interestingly, many of these
Asian tales refer to the secret of immortality as a fungus growing
from the toad's forehead. It has been suggested that this may be a
link to the many shamanistic traditions of the Americas, where hallucinogenic
compounds derived from frogs and toads are used for religious rituals
of communion with the spirit world and self-transcendence.

Poison,
Hallucination, Transcendence:

The
Alchemical Amphibian

One of the other forms of
power that frogs and toads wield in many cultures and myths is chemical,
or alchemical: frogs are viewed as the purveyors of poison or of powerful
drugs, which can heal or induce hallucinations. In many cases, these
myths have some foundation in truth, as some species contain compounds
both poisonous and hallucinogenic. Many tribes of South and Central
America have used compounds from frogs and toads as poisons and hallucinogenic
drugs for religious rituals.

In medieval Europe, toads
were viewed as evil creatures whose blood was a potent poison and whose
body parts had strange powers. Some of these views were created by writers
from Classical Greece and Rome, whose opinions held great sway. Pliny
the Elder imputed many strange powers to toads: a toad's presence will
silence a room full of people; a small bone from a toad's right side
will keep water from boiling; a bone from the left side will repel the
attack of dogs.

A widely held superstition
concerned the fabulous "Toad-Stone," a jewel that was supposed to be
found inside the toad's head. This jewel, placed in a ring or a necklace,
would heat up or change color in the presence of poison, thereby protecting
the wearer from foul play. In Shakespeare's play As You Like It, the
Old Duke says,

"Sweet are the
uses of adversity which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet
a precious jewel in his head."

Toads were also commonly
seen as evil spirits, or as the "imp" or "familiar" who accompanied
witches, assisting them in their evil designs. These familiars could
also be cats, crows, insects, or dogs. In the annals of the witch
trials at St. Osyth (England), Ursula Kempe's young son testified
that one of her four familiars, a black toad named Pigin, had once
called illness in a young boy. Toads were also popular as poisonous
ingredients in potions. It was said that "the women-witches of ancient
time which killed by poysoning, did much use toads in their confections."
Male witches were also purported to use toads for their poisonous
magic. Such folklore and popular mythology is the result of Inquistion
propaganda and does not reflect Pagan religions.